How to Stick To Your New Years Resolutions All Year Long

If you’re anything like me (and like 78% of the world’s population probably) your new year’s resolutions are usually as good as gone by March, overshadowed by old habits and day-to-day monotony .

After a year of disappointments and a fair share of failures, I am dedicating my 2019 to personal revolution. I’ve got that new year, new me motivation and I just can’t wait to look back on 2019 with pride for everything I accomplished. But in order for that to happen, I know I’ve got to get strategic. This can’t just be a fleeting surge of motivation, it’s got to last throughout the year.

Thankfully, I’ve learned a few tips and tricks that have kept me working towards my New Years Resolutions all year long:

Make your goals super specific

One reason many New Years Resolutions die by the third month of their inception is because they are often written as vague statements. Here’s an example: “I want to be healthier in 2019.” No indication of what “healthier” means for the individual, no concrete details or measurements for the person to evaluate their success, no steps they are planning to take throughout the year to reach the goal. Statements like these are less like resolutions or goals and more like wishful dreams. My resolutions used to look like this, too. No wonder I’d often forgotten them by April. Although it’s good to have a general idea of what you want in the year overall, significant change can only be obtained if goals are broken down to their roots.

Here is the process I take each year to ensure my New Years Resolutions are specific, measurable and attainable.

Write a general, overarching goal.

“I want to lose weight and be healthier in 2019.”

Brainstorm all the different ways to reach that goal.

“Buy a gym membership/ go to the gym each week/ meal prep every week/ cut out processed sugars.”

From those, add quantitative measures and/or time limits for each.

“I will compare local gym memberships and sign up for one by January 14th/I will go to the gym after work every Tuesday and Thursday/ I will finish meal preping my lunches and dinners for the week before 3pm every Sunday.”

Create a vision board

Following in the footsteps of Oprah and countless other self-improvement gurus, I believe whole-heartedly in the effectiveness of vision boards (plus I love crafting collages). I’ve plastered a couple vision boards on my closet door, hung in a spot I can’t help but see as I get dressed every morning. In the same vein, I decided to create a couple more vision boards for my phone and computer- the two places I visit the most throughout the day.

Desktop Background Vision Board. All the photos were found on WeHeartIt and they represent the main themes around my New Years Resolutions- Travel, Fitness, Adventure, Confidence, etc.

Phone Locks Screen Vision Board

I used WeHeartIt to find my favorite images and Canva to design the documents. Here are the pixel sizes I used: Phone Lockscreen: 1080px X 1920pxComputer Background: 1920px X 1080px

Plan a Quarterly Review

Yep, just like a business meeting. But this time instead of analyzing profit projections in a conference room with your boss, you get to call the shots. Take this as a little check-in with yourself.

What steps have you taken recently to reach your New Years goals?

What could you do more of?

What habits are getting in your way?

You can do this as frequently or infrequently as you see fit. For me, I do this once every two months. It’s not too time-consuming and it often ends up being the little nudge I need to realign myself with my goals.

Journal at the end of the day

In all honesty, this may be the hardest habit to stick to. I still fall short of journaling every single day, but jotting down your thoughts frequently have been shown to improve mental health, boost memory, and, you guessed it, help achieve goals.

Here are a few journaling prompts to get you started:

How would you describe your current state?

What were the most memorable things that happened today?

Are you happy with how you spent your time today?Why or why not?

What is one thing you can you do tomorrow that would be beneficial towards reaching your New Year Resolution(s)?

Now that you have the goals broken down, inspiration set up, and the reoccurring reviews planned, it’s time to get started on your New Years Resolution Revolution.

I’d love to know if any of these tips have helped you. Do you have tricks you use to help your New Years Resolutions be successful? What are your goals this year? Let me know in the comments below!

Hi! Great tips! I try to stay away from “resolutions” and make goals instead. I feel like goals are easier to breakdown into chunks lol…still use most of the tips you mentioned, and will be implementing the vision board- love that idea!

Love this! Vision boards are so fun! Never thought of doing a quarterly review though… That’s genius!! What a simple and unstressed way to keep yourself on track. The area all so motivating but don’t require you to stress yourself out and burn out over them!